Friday, May 1, 2015

Long Weekend – Long Drive to Goa on Royal Enfield: 1 – 3rd May, 2015

Long weekend always tempt me to
go away from Bengaluru and enjoye the travel.I love more travel than being idol at home.The long weekend holiday 1 – 3rd
May 2015 was really made me confuse to choose the place. Finally decided to
go long drive somewhere on Sudhakar's Royal Enfield.My ever best friend Sudhakar was not confirmed about his availability,
since he was busy in his office important task.I made my mind set to go solo, if he could not join with me.I had couple of
route plans in my mind and at last moment we thought why not Goa!!!!

I surfed many blogs, travels,
planning and other information on Google.
Plan was ready; however my friend not yet confirmed. At any point of time, I was not ready to vain
three days holiday. The green signal
came from Sudhakar on 29th April 2015; I was sure he will not miss
this. We had very less time for
preparation; he gave the Bullet for servicing; contacted his friend about route
map and arrangement. We had a plus point
that; Sudhakar’s one of good friend is from Goa. He will be taken care about our stay, route
map, local sightseeing etc. It was not
so easy to convince at home about long drive on bike, however I assured about
our safety. The day is arrived!!

Morning was very shocking, the
alarm did not ring and our sleep was extended till 3.00 am. The plan was to leave around 2.30 am, we got refreshed
and left the home around 3.40 am. We were
running almost an hour from our planned schedule. The cool breeze and little early morning
traffic made slow of our pace. We took our
first small break near Sira toll.

Taking multiple breaks reached
the Bankapura around 9 am. We have to
take a diversion from NH 4 and move towards Karwar high way. The country side road was beautiful however
our pace become slow.

Passing through Mundgodu soon we
reached to Yellapur by 10.30 am. We are
very ahead time as per our previous plan.
Searched a good hotel and finished breakfast, we spent almost 45
minutes. From Yellapura the road is very
scenic, now we got the traffic heat. Since
it is major connectivity road to Karawara and Mangaluru, the road was full of
big trucks. The ghat drive was
beautiful, after the forest stretch reached to Ankola.

Sudhakar called to his friend
Ravi and took the detailed on the way journey.
Again taking multiple stops reached the Karawara around 12.30. The coastal heat was making little tiered,
spent little time on the nearby beach. Crossing
the Kali river bridge soon entered into the Goa territory. Now the road becomes again scenic. We entered the Goa from south side which is more greenery and the Ghats.

We landed on Goa Palolium Beach
around 2.40 pm. The beach was not much crowded
by tourist. Really it is one of the best
beaches in the Goa. We spent almost two
hours on this beach and headed towards Mandgao [Margao].

Ravi has given detailed direction
to reach his place. We met him and had
evening snacks in one of the Kamath Hotel.
I could able to see only one Kamath Hotel in the entire my stay in the
Goa. After the break we went to Benalium
beach which is very close to Mandgao. The
beach side hotels made more beautiful to this beach.

Now the time to search for night
stay; Ravi took us to the nearest Lodge who charged us Rs.600/- for a day. Understand that now it is off season, whereas
the same room will be charged not less than Rs.2000/-. The room was very neat and clean and had
double cot. Dumped our luggage and got refreshed.

We backed to beach again. Ravi gave detailed route map and places to
visit for tomorrow. He is a professional
photographer, good writer and a motivator.
He gave many tips about the photography.
We relaxed on the beach and witnessed the beautiful sunset. Now the time to adieu Ravi, we are very
thankful to him.

We again headed towards the
Benalium beach. Spent some time and
decided to finish the dinner. I can say
it is one of the more romantic dinners on seashore. They put the dining table on the edge where waves
touch our feet. The candle light dinner
was very beautiful one. We were on beach
till night 11.30pm.

02.05.2015

We woke up around 5 am and again
back to beach. Tiered less waves
touching our feet, the beach was totally void. I spent lot of time on photography;
Sudhakar showed his Yoga skills on the beach.
Back to the room at 7 am and left towards our journey.

We finished our breakfast in the
Kamath Hotel and headed towards Old Goa.
The old Goa is famous for its beautiful ancient Churches. One by one we visited five beautiful
Churches.

Next destination is Panaji, the
capital city of Goa. We found more
traffic on the way. Visited the old
ancient Church and Latin colony. After spending
some time we headed towards Aguda fort. Before
that we visited many beaches.

Aguda fort is a beautiful view on
top of the hill. We can see the far away
small ships and cruiser. Spending some
more time headed towards our home stay Baga Beach.

Ravi, well in advance informed to
the owner of the home stay who is a friend of him. Dumped our luggage and got refreshed, next point
is Baga beach. I personally not recommend anyone to visit this most crowded
beach. After dipping in the sea spent
more time relaxing on the beach.

Our next destination was Vagator
beach and Chapora Fort. Loved the
Chapora Fort where we witnessed beautiful sunset. It is very popular place where Dil Chahata
Hai movie is pictured. After sunset also we spent more time on the walls.

Back to homestay and got
refreshed. There was a Saturday Night
Bazar which was very close to our stay. Took
a small Jolly ride into the market, there was performing Orchestra as a
cultural event. Spending little more time back to the room and relaxed. The day was end around 11.30 pm

03.05.2015

The day is come to return back to
Bengaluru. Left the Baga beach around
5.30 am, through Panaji hit to the Belagavi Goa highway. Morning ride is always cool and
pleasant. Our first break was at Mullem,
which is very close place for Dudhsagar.

From Mullem to Alnavar road is
very scenic. The Ghat section ride is more adventurous and beautiful. Taking multiple breaks reached Dharawad very
soon. Till Hubli bypass we did not counter any good hotels.

Took breakfast on roadside petty
shop, the breakfast was spontaneous. We
decided not to take multiple breaks on the way and set the target to reach by 4
pm Bengaluru. Every stretch was minimum
120 kms and soon reached to Sira at 2 pm.
Finished the lunch and headed towards Bengaluru.

We were very happy about the journey,
suddenly twist in the way. After crossing
the Tumukur toll, started to pour heavy rain.
We had very less time to save our valuables, stopped the road side shop
and packed our all items in the bag. The
wind was more and rain with thunder and storm.

The journey become challenging, though
not to stop more started our journey in the rain. The rain was more surprise, after few
kilometers not even single drop. We reached
back safely to home around 7.00 pm.

It was three days most memorable
journey which becomes history in our life.
Thanks to god and bike we returned back safely. Mine twisting again to our next destination…………